Sifter for ashes in furnaces



June 1,1926. n 1,586,860

R. M. SWANSON SIFTER PCDR ASHES IN FURNAGES Filed June 12 1925 PatentedJune 1, 1926.

UNI-reo STATES isses ortica.

-srr'rnn son nenas-rn sunnites-1s.

application fueaqune 12 ,19.25. serial Sno. 36,662

@to provide a simpleand etic'i'entlash sifter adapted. to he disposed ina furnace and which wfillbe operated inthe furnace so that all. dust anddirt will be retained inthe fur nace and yyet the unburned fuel can beileadi'ly separated..froml the ashes.

lt a urther object of theinventionfto provide ,such a device comprising,a support adaptedtobe disposed in vthe bottom ofthe uiinace'and extendahoutthe walls thereof, together with `a screen carried on said suppontand mounted Fior reciprocating movementVsaifc'l screen preferably ybeingconnected to the .grate 'bars in such a way that when the v,gratebarsare movedY to shake. down the ashes the screen will 'bereciprocated.

.It is .more .specifically an object of the invention to provide anash-sitter comprising ay bar bent to extend around the sides .and Y,rearot' the furnace, vwxh-ich lbar has another ibar upstanding 'therefromand extending. across the 'furnace on which .a flat screen is supportedrand pivoted about a vertical axis,l which screen extends heneath the,grate ybars, of a furnace and inclines 'forwardly and downwardly, 'the'front 4edge of said screen being connected to rbars rigidly se cured toIthe ,grate bars .at the liront end -so 'fthat the .screen will be`reciprocated when v`-the grate bars are moved, means also beingprovided 4to hold the 'front edge of `t'he screen in `elevate-dposition. 'These :and .other objects andv advantages .o'f .the inventionwill be fully set Aorth in the jitollowing description made .inconnection with ,the .accompanying drawings f,in which Llike referencecharacters re'fer .to fthe same :partstliroughout the different views,:andin Wlfich,

l 'is a view lin central vertical section through the ,lower part o'f adomestic .fun nace, with the .invention therein;

Fig'. '2 is a top plan view lof the ,sifting device; and i y Fig. is avertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. I, as vindicated hy thearrow, p l v Referring to the drawing-s, a portion oi a turnace ol thedomestic typeis illustrated, i

of which it 'will' only be necessary to consider the base l-,the lowerwall '5 which vsurrounds lt'he ash ,pit and which carries at its front a,hingedy ash door- '6 and which has bearings 5a in which are rotatablymounted the 4grate bars 7, fsaid bars'hav'ing ,rods "7 ptojecting attheir `front adapted to receive a crank or operating member which will"be inserted through lthe front of the furnace wall. The upper part vorwallfS of the lurnaceA4 forming the combustion ychamber is shown in partIn accordance with the present invention,

a screen support .is provided `and while `various .suppontsmay be used,in the embodiment of the .inventionillustrated, a .support :isshowncomprising a flat har I() which is bent Ainto llfs'hape and is .adaptedto ex' tend along the sides 0I" the Afurnace wall .and

`around the ,semi-cylindrical rear portion y thereof. 'There Iis .oftena ,ledge -or oiisetin u the wall of' Athelfurnace,adjacent the loottom,and .said .bar 'lO conveniently tits therein.

The bar, as shown, is: disposed with itsllat sides vertical and ,has a'IJ-shaped member 'l1 secured `thereto at opposite sides and has Va hatsubstantially horizontal portion extending across the furnace abovethe:door thereot. The member l1 :preferably .is formed ,in

tral top ,portion thereof, sai-d .ends 'being provided with a ,plurality:ot holles 11 through `an :alin'ing ipair of which `alheaded f twopiecesflthe .ends overlapping at the cen- I 'holt 1"2 is ,adapted .to,pass which, preferably, will lShe .equipped with .a clamping nut ,13

holding the overlapping ,ends ,of the porlt'ions tot :member 1ltogether; A hat screen '14k lis provided,preferably, 'havingsubst-anftially ,parallel 'side ,portions and :a semi-circular ,rearportion .so as to extend ysubstan- Ltially parallel to .the Aside wallsvof the-.'iur- ,nace and ybeneath .the grate bars thereof. The screen 14.shown Aas connected tothe horizontal .l'ange citan-,angle bar 1'5 bent`to yextendga'round .thesides and ,rear thereof, the

lforward, `edge of the rscreen ybeing secured Ato a. that .'har 1.6extending 'between k.thezends l.of the anglebar l'. Thescreenpreferablyfis 4.additionally supported-hy a .transverse bei; .i

17 extending between the sides of the angle bar 15 and the screen isalso provided with a central flat bar 18 which extends longitudinallyand centrally.therebeneath. The bar 18 is provided with a hole adaptedto pass over and surround the upper end of the bolt 12 so that thescreen is supported on the member 11 about a vertical axis. It will benoted that the sides of the screen are spaced from the wall of thefurnace so that considerable lateral reciprocation of the screen and itsframe is possible. A pair of flexible members shown as chains 19 areprovided having their ends attached at spaced points at the front of thescreen, preferably to the bar 16 and these chains are engaged at theirupper central portions over hooks 2Oa secured to bars 20, which latterbars have their upper ends bent around the rod 7L of the grat-e bars andrigidly clamped thereto by headed and nutted bolts 21. A rod 22 isprovided which extends over and downwardly at each side of the rods 7 aand has a depressed central U-shaped portion 'depending between saidrods 7a. rlhe end of the bar 18 is formed as a hook 18aM and this hookis adapted to be engaged in the depressed central portion of the rod 22.

A pan 23 is provided adapted to be seated in the forward part of the ashpit immediately inside the front wall, which pan has a short flange orwall at its front edge and i one side edge thereof and is provided witha pair of bail handles 2li and 25 disposed at one end and the frontcentral portion thereof, respectively. Theinner edge of thepan is'flatand` extends a short distance under the forward edge of the screen 14Cand one end ofthe pan is also flat or imobstructed and the pan can beheld by the yhandles 24 and 25 and used as a scuttle so that thematerial therein can be thrown out at one end thereof.

In operation, the screen or sifter device will be disposed in a furnace,as shown and described. The'parts are'such that the same can be insertedat the front of the furnace and attached to the standard parts thereof.rlhe front edge of the screen normally is spaced a short distance abovethe bottom of the furnace. `When t-he operator rotates the Vrod 7 ashaking the grate bars for the purpose of shaking down the-ashes, thebars 2O will be oscillated and, owing to the connecA tion of these barsand the screen through the chains 19, said screen will be laterallyreciprocated about the bolt 12. and unburned fuel dropping from thegrate bars onto the screen 14 will thus be sifted by said screen and theparts too large to pass through the screen will pass downward and offthe front end thereof and into the pan 23. Whensaidpan becomes full thesame can be removed through the ash door and the contents of the pan canconveniently be The ashes thrown or' discharged into the furnace firedoor. The screen 14 can be raised to engage the hook 18L on the rod 22to hold the front cnd of the screen in elevated position when it isdesired to shovel the ashes from the ash pit. It will be noted that thebottom of the furnace is substantially unobstructed and the ashes can beshoveled out as usual. If desired, the ash pan 23 may be omitted. Thematerial not passing through the screen will vthen be collected at thefront of the furnace and this material can be shoveled up before theashes beneath the screen are removed.

From the above descriptionit is seen that applicant has provided a verysimple and efficient ash sifter adapted to be disposed in a furnace. Thesifter is operated .and the ashes are sifted without substantially anyadditional effort in operating the furnace. This sifting takes placewhen the grate bars are operated to shake down the furnace.

All dust is retained in the furnace and will quickly settle or be'carried off by the draft. The sifted ashes can be removed as usual andthe unburned fuel can conveniently be saved. The device can be installedin practically all standard types of furnaces and the same is easily andinexpeni sively produced. The device has been amply demonstrated inactual practice and found to be very successful and efficient.

It will, of course, be understood, that varions changes may be made inthe form, de-

tails, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing fromthe scope of applicants invention, which, generally stated, consists ina'device capablev of carrying out the objects above set forth, in thewhen said grate bars are moved for discharging ashes said screennormally inclining downwardly toward the front end of said furnace todischarge coarse material.

2. An ashsifter for a furnace having in combination, va support disposedin the furnace beneath the grate bars and extending around the rea-r andsides of the furnace wall, a U-shaped bar upstanding therefrom, a fiatsifter supported on said U- shaped bar for lateral movement, said screenhaving substantially the form of said furnace wall and having a frontedge spaced from the front of said furnace and normally spaced above thebottom of said furnace,

and means suspending said screen from the grate bars including rigidmembers rigidly connected to the grate bars and adapted to reciprocatesaid screen when said grate bars are moved t0 discharge ashes.

The structure set forth in claim l, said screen also being verticallymovable about a transverse horizontal axis and normally incliningdownwardly toward its front edge, said edge being normally slightlyspaced above the bottom of the furnace, and a support for holding saidscreen in position With its front end elevated.

4. An ash sifter for a furnace having in combination, a support disposedin the furnace beneath the grate bars, a screen supported thereon foroscillating` movement about a substantially vertical axis, meansdetachably connected to the grate bars and connected to said screen forsupporting and oscillating said screen.

5. An ash sifter for a furnace having in combination, a bar bent toextend around the sides and rear of the interior Wall of a fur-l nace atthe bottom thereof, a supporting bar upstanding from the sides of saidbar and flexible members connected to said screen,

rigid bars connected to said flexible members and rigidly connected tosaid grate bars whereby when said grate bars are moved for shakingashes, said screen Will be laterally reciprocated.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

RICHARD M. SWANSON.

